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For a light, risen crust, fresh dough is best. Pressed or patted out to the desired shape, freshly made dough is allowed to rise until puffy and soft. When cooked, the interior will be light and slightly chewy, with fairly large air holes. For a thin crust, use cold dough and work fast. The author rolls or presses the dough to about a quarter inch thick, dresses it lightly with oil and seasonings, and gets it into the oven before it starts to rise. Halfway through baking, she adds asparagus, prosciutto, and fontina cheese (see the recipe at right). doesn't substantially change the resulting crust, but it gives me more time if I need it before baking the pizza. Or, I can refrigerate the dough for several hours or up to two days. In this case, I give it a final punch down after it has chilled for about 40 minutes and put it in a plastic bag. By letting the dough mature in the refrigerator, the gluten ripens and relaxes. The dough becomes less sticky, and it will stretch farther when I work with it. With this refrigerated dough, I can obtain a thin, crisp crust, or a thick, chewy crust, depending on how thin I roll or stretch the dough when forming it, and on whether or not I allow it to warm up and rise before baking it. A thick crust made from chilled dough is likely to have larger air bubbles and be less delicate and more chewy-rather like the difference between regular and sourdough breads. I believe crust made from refrigerated dough has a better flavor, too. For a light, risen crust, I like to use a freshly made dough, although you can use a chilled dough. For the highest, puffiest results, I add 2 teaspoons more yeast to the recipe and use the dough within three hours of making it. For a finer-textured crust, I simply roll it out thinner and let it rise to the same height. I let the dough rise until it's puffy, and my fingertips disappear when I press on it (as shown in the photo above right) . This takes about 10 minutes with freshly made, room-temperature dough, or about 15 minutes with chilled dough. A thick, chewy crust can be made either with fresh or chiUed dough. I stretch or press the dough to about Y, to Vz inch thick and let it rise just slightly. Whether I end up with a thick and chewy crust or a light and risen one depends on how thick I roll it out and how high I let it rise. For a thin, crisp crust, I use dough straight out of the refrigerator. I roll it out as thin as I want it- 28 usually about V4 inch-and get it into the oven within minutes, before it has a chance to rise. ASSEMBLING THE PIZZA I assemble the pizza on an oiled, rimless cookie sheet. A third of the dough recipe will make a 12- to 16-inch round crust, depending on how thin I roll or spread it. The smaUer the circumference of the pizza, the easier it is to work with. As much as I'd love to, I've never mastered the flashy toss-and-spin technique of professional pizza makers. Instead, I lightly form the dough into a baU, and then stretch it out. First, I hold it vertically by one edge and turn it in my hands, allowing gravity to stretch it as I turn it (see the photo on p. 27). Then I lay it on the cookie sheet and press out the dough, starting from the center. I'm careful not to tear or poke holes in the dough. A floured rolling pin is handy for rolling out thin crusts. If the dough springs back, I let it rest a minute or two, or chill it in the fudge, and then continue to work it out. IfI'm using a sauce, I spread it on sparingly so that the dough shows through. Otherwise the crust will be soggy on top. If I'm not using a sauce, I'll drizzle some olive oil over the dough and season it with salt, pepper; herbs, and perhaps garlic. Next, I arrange the toppings, usually three to four items, so that they don't overlap. I apply the cheese a little more than halfway through the baking process. By adding the cheese when the crust is just lightly browned, I can tell when the topping is sufficiently cooked and also avoid overbrowned, leathery cheese and an undercooked crust. Those toppings that don't need much cooking, like blanched spinach or asparagus, paper-thin prosciutto, or steamed shellfish, also go on at halftime, along with the cheese. I bake pizza in a very hot oven-475°F. I've baked pizzas on heavy baking sheets and on a baking stone. If it's sufficiently preheated, the stone FINE COOKING